Saturday, May 22, 2010

Blogfest: Logline/Hook Line

Thanks to Bryan of the Time Guardian Blog for hosting the Logline/Hook line Blogfest!.

According to Bryan a "logline" is:


"A logline (also known as a hook line) is a single snappy sentence that conveys the gist of your story. It’s one of those things that sounds so simple and clean when it’s done right, yet can be a royal pain to create.


Think of it this way: if working on your query is a necessary evil, then you can consider fashioning your logline to be a high-pressure condensed form of that hell."

Loglines aren't easy to write. Not even for short stories. It's like micro-writing, just like Twitter is like micro-blogging.

Here are several of my loglines from my published books.

1)  Kes is obsessed with killing Nikolai – to prevent him from destroying Earth nine hundred years into the future. "Carnal Lust" published by Total-E-Bound.

2)  Robin didn't know whether to be relieved or appalled that the sexy man she'd fallen into bed with wasn't her ex-boyfriend, but his adult son. "Scene of the Crime" in the Cougars And Cubs anthology published by Total-E-Bound.


3)  When Char bids on and wins both sexy doctors Hunky and Hottie in her hospital's charity auction, she knows exactly what to do with them and it's not tidily winks. "Charity's Auction" published by Total-E-Bound. Audio just released. Ebook to be released Monday May 31, 2010.

4)  When Captain Ty Gibson comes home from a tour of duty in Iraq to marry Bianca, their sometimes third lover Brendan stirs up a mess of trouble. "Bad Conduct" published by Total-E-Bound.

5)  The ghost of Kacey's crazy great-grandfather threatens her life but just might save her marriage. "Crazy In Love" published by Total-E-Bound.

6)  Determined to live life by her own rules, Jordan's more than ready to devour two yummy men, what her religious father thinks, be damned. "Welcome To Paradise" pubilshed by Total-E-Bound.


* Please let me know what you think.

** Also, please visit back tomorrow and sign up for my blogfest "Charity Auctions Blogfest". Write a scene about a charity auction. This is in celebration of the release of my romance "Charity's Auction".

Recent posts you might like to read:

Author Interview: Wendi Zwaduk 

Author Interview: Frances Pauli


Author Interview: Marcia James

Author Interview: Elaine Hopper

Weathering A Bad Review


What Do You Want in a Romance Hero & What Do You Want in a Real Life Husband?

Rejection: Where Do You Go Next?

Procrastination

Cliche or Coincidence?

Incognito: free short story

Dedicating Books

You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Wendi Zwaduk are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

5 comments:

Bryan Sabol said...

#1 is my favorite because it shows clear stakes. You've got good general plot descriptions for each of these, but I'm wondering about specifics: what's the conflict and the stakes in each?

For example, for #4, what trouble is stirred up? What are the potential consequences? What are the stakes?

Same for #3: here, I honestly don't read much into it as all we have is a situation. Is there conflict -- maybe between Hunky and Hottie (triangles are great)?

If you can add specifics in all of these and articulate what the main character has got to lose, I think these would be even stronger.

Thanks for joining the fest!

Unknown said...

Thanks Bryan. I'll put that to work in future loglines. This was a great exercise.

Sandra Cox said...

Congrats on hitting 200 followers. Whoops that didn't sound right did it. grin. And on hosting the blog fest.

Lovy Boheme said...

I like the fifth one the best, but I would probably take out the word "crazy". Nice job. :)

orelukjp0 said...

I really like number 2 and 3. They are tags that would have me taking a second look at the book. I think I'm a follower but I'll double check to make sure. Anything to help you reach 250.

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